Old world though about human growth and population has led to a global population crisis.
Of all the factors which are considered to lead to climate change and unsustainable practices, the one which stands out as the root of all others including fossil fuel consumption and superfluous waste, is the sheer number of people on the planet and in the United States especially where consumer culture drives the largest oil consuming country in the world. The Problem:
In the last twenty years, the U.S. population has increased about 50%. (U.S. Census Bureau)
American consumer culture leads us to being the nation with the highest oil consumption in the world by almost threefold. (EIA)
The average American consumes 22 barrels of oil per year which is second only to Saudi Arabia in major nations and is nearly twice that of Japan and ten times the consumption per capita of China. (Wikipedia)
American cities are growing and becoming more populated while the countryside is starting to be overrun by suburbia. (U.S. Census Bureau) Why We are Stuck:
Consumer culture in the U.S. allows for and encourages people to dispose of waste they don’t want and have it taken away to where they assume they never have to deal with it again. This becomes more apparent in cities where these unsustainable products and habits are easier to access and the effects are harder to see. With a massive shift of Americans from rural settings to city life over the last century, the effects of the overwhelming waste producing metropolises has begun to compound especially when tied to the enormous number of people who are wasting every day.
Additionally, it is human (and ultimately animalian) nature to try to continue the species and have our traits carried on so while it is easy to say, “Of course, let’s send humanitarian aid into Africa to teach them about birth control.” or, “Of course it’s a good idea to limit most Chinese families to one child, their population is out of control.” It is hard to look in at ourselves and make the same statements because of our pride and the privilege we assume is bestowed upon us because we are American. Possible Fixes:
The problem of overpopulation is a difficult one to tackle because on a primordial level of thought it simply doesn’t make sense. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to have 10 children families? Why should we have to silence our primitive urge to reproduce? It’s only natural and it’s what every other species on the planet is concerned with at any given moment; survive then reproduce. Unfortunately for humanity, the more we concern ourselves with the latter, the more difficult it will be for future generations to perform the former so in that regard it is a necessity that American population growth be stunted.
One option for limiting population growth is a system identical or similar to the one child policy implemented in china in 1978 after experiencing two decades of massive growth with some years exceeding 3% annual population increase. The policy essentially restricts the majority of married couples to having one child and while it has been linked to various social problems such as an increase in forced abortions, the majority of Chinese citizens support the law and China’s population growth has steadily slowed to about 0.5%.
Other methods of population control could include: · Age limits on when you can have children · Limits on the number of children you can have based on economic class, ethnicity, or home setting · Preventing abortion from becoming illegal · Decrease in social benefits to promote a shorter average lifespan · War
Obviously any potential solution will meet heavy opposition and a few may be considered crude or wicked, however it is clear that this problem is one which must be addressed in some fashion and with quickness. Bibliography:
High Beam Reasearch LLC. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922041.html#axzz0zTX8Gz1V Sun, Yuesheng, and Zhangling Wei. "The One-Child Policy in China Today." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 18.2 (1987): 309-325. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.
U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.html
U.S. Energy Information Association (EIA), http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth#Human_population_growth_rate
Images: http://mindprod.com/environment/population.html http://www.southtexascollege.edu/nilsson/4_gb_internet_activities/4_ia_humanpopgrowth.html
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Old world though about human growth and population has led to a global population crisis.
Of all the factors which are considered to lead to climate change and unsustainable practices, the one which stands out as the root of all others including fossil fuel consumption and superfluous waste, is the sheer number of people on the planet and in the United States especially where consumer culture drives the largest oil consuming country in the world.
The Problem:
In the last twenty years, the U.S. population has increased about 50%. (U.S. Census Bureau)
American consumer culture leads us to being the nation with the highest oil consumption in the world by almost threefold. (EIA)
The average American consumes 22 barrels of oil per year which is second only to Saudi Arabia in major nations and is nearly twice that of Japan and ten times the consumption per capita of China. (Wikipedia)
American cities are growing and becoming more populated while the countryside is starting to be overrun by suburbia. (U.S. Census Bureau)
Why We are Stuck:
Consumer culture in the U.S. allows for and encourages people to dispose of waste they don’t want and have it taken away to where they assume they never have to deal with it again. This becomes more apparent in cities where these unsustainable products and habits are easier to access and the effects are harder to see. With a massive shift of Americans from rural settings to city life over the last century, the effects of the overwhelming waste producing metropolises has begun to compound especially when tied to the enormous number of people who are wasting every day.
Additionally, it is human (and ultimately animalian) nature to try to continue the species and have our traits carried on so while it is easy to say, “Of course, let’s send humanitarian aid into Africa to teach them about birth control.” or, “Of course it’s a good idea to limit most Chinese families to one child, their population is out of control.” It is hard to look in at ourselves and make the same statements because of our pride and the privilege we assume is bestowed upon us because we are American.
Possible Fixes:
The problem of overpopulation is a difficult one to tackle because on a primordial level of thought it simply doesn’t make sense. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to have 10 children families? Why should we have to silence our primitive urge to reproduce? It’s only natural and it’s what every other species on the planet is concerned with at any given moment; survive then reproduce. Unfortunately for humanity, the more we concern ourselves with the latter, the more difficult it will be for future generations to perform the former so in that regard it is a necessity that American population growth be stunted.
One option for limiting population growth is a system identical or similar to the one child policy implemented in china in 1978 after experiencing two decades of massive growth with some years exceeding 3% annual population increase. The policy essentially restricts the majority of married couples to having one child and while it has been linked to various social problems such as an increase in forced abortions, the majority of Chinese citizens support the law and China’s population growth has steadily slowed to about 0.5%.
Other methods of population control could include:
· Age limits on when you can have children
· Limits on the number of children you can have based on economic class, ethnicity, or home setting
· Preventing abortion from becoming illegal
· Decrease in social benefits to promote a shorter average lifespan
· War
Obviously any potential solution will meet heavy opposition and a few may be considered crude or wicked, however it is clear that this problem is one which must be addressed in some fashion and with quickness.
Bibliography:
High Beam Reasearch LLC. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922041.html#axzz0zTX8Gz1V
Sun, Yuesheng, and Zhangling Wei. "The One-Child Policy in China Today." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 18.2 (1987): 309-325. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Sept. 2010.
U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.html
U.S. Energy Information Association (EIA), http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth#Human_population_growth_rate
Images:
http://mindprod.com/environment/population.html
http://www.southtexascollege.edu/nilsson/4_gb_internet_activities/4_ia_humanpopgrowth.html
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